Alkaline Water Healing Properties for GERD

Unlike conventional drinking water, pH 8.8 alkaline water instantly denatures pepsin, rendering it permanently inactive. In addition, it has good acid-buffering capacity. Thus, the consumption of alkaline water may have therapeutic benefits for patients with reflux disease.
Other Warnings
Do not consume alkaline water with any medicines, supplements, or other additives. The alkaline water is reactive, and can form potentially dangerous by-products when mixed with a drug or other chemical compounds.
You should store ionised water in sealed glass bottles rather than plastic bottles, because it is reactive and can react with some plastics. It also reacts with the air and loses its ionisation if it is left exposed (of course, the alkaline minerals remain).


Others say that alkaline water helps:
http://www.alkalinediseasecure.com/acid-reflux/

From what I've read, it seems that alkaline water may help but only where you in fact have High Stomach Acid GERD.  Where you have Low Stomach Acid GERD, it appears that alkaline water may make the problem worse.

So, if you've determined that you have High Stomach Acid GERD, which you can do by doing the HCL test, then you may want to try alkaline water.  When you do, make sure you pay attention to how you feel and how your body reacts to the alkaline water.

My GERD Cause: Water Addiction

Believe it or not, I think my virtual addiction to water may have contributed to me having GERD.

Let me go back, so about 6 years ago I gave up soda and fruit juices.  Like most of you, I read and heard on the radio and TV about how soda is so bad for you, along with every type of drink that has tons of sugar.  So, me, being a pseudo health conscious person, gave up soda.  Yeap, just like that.  Cold turkey.

I went from a about a liter of soda a day to about a gallon of water a day.  I think I got addicted to the drinking motion.  The best thing is that water is quite accessible, and free!

I think my problem started with my obsession with drinking at least a glass of water at night.  I'd just chug down a whole glass then get to bed.  It's only now, with all my GERD research, that I realize that putting water in your stomach is the same as putting food in your stomach.  Water, like the rest of your food, has to be digested.  Also, like I've written in other posts, water dilutes stomach acids.  This means that I was filling up my stomach with liquid that needed to be digested, while at the same time diluting the stomach acid that was meant to digest it.

By filling my belly with water I was forcing my stomach to digest at night (when digestion slows), while my body was lying down (no gravity to help), and diluting the stomach acid that was meant to do the digestion.

Enjoying Nexium

I have read a lot of blogs the last few weeks and currently feel quite fortunate that Nexium did work for me.  It seems there's many out there that take PPIs twice a day, in addition to other medicines but nothing works.  I was lucky in that 1 Nexium in the morning was enough to keep me, mostly, symptom free all day.

Alright, so what is Nexium and what are PPIs?

Nexium:

Nexium (esomeprazole) belongs to a group of drugs called proton pump inhibitors. Nexium decreases the amount of acid produced in the stomach.
Nexium is used to treat symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and other conditions involving excessive stomach acid such as Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. Nexium is also used to promote healing of erosive esophagitis (damage to your esophagus caused by stomach acid).
Nexium may also be given to prevent gastric ulcer caused by infection with helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), or by the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
Nexium is not for immediate relief of heartburn symptoms.
Nexium may also be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.

Nexium Side Effects:

Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction to Nexium: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.
Stop using Nexium and call your doctor at once if you have any of these symptoms of low magnesium such as:

• dizziness, confusion;
  
• fast or uneven heart rate;
  
• jerking muscle movements;
  
• feeling jittery;
  
• diarrhea that is watery or bloody;
  
• muscle cramps, muscle weakness or limp feeling;
  
• cough or choking feeling; or
  
• seizure (convulsions).
  

Less serious Nexium side effects may include:

• headache, drowsiness;
  
• mild diarrhea;
  
• nausea, stomach pain, gas, constipation; or
  
• dry mouth.
  

This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs)

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are medicines that work by reducing the amount of stomach acid made by glands in the lining of your stomach.

• Relieve symptoms of acid reflux, or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a condition where food or liquid travels backwards from the stomach to the esophagus (the tube from the mouth to the stomach)

• Treat a peptic or stomach ulcer

• Treat damage to the lower esophagus caused by acid reflux

Types of PPIs

There are many different names and brands of PPIs. Most work as well as another. Side effects may be different for different ones.

• Omeprazole (Prilosec), also available over the counter without a prescription (Prilosec OTC)
• Esomeprazole (Nexium),
• Lansoprazole (Prevacid),
• Rabeprazole (AcipHex)
• Pantoprazole (Protonix)
• Dexlansoprazole (Kapidex)

Although I was scared, I started taking the Nexium every morning as soon as I got up.  At first, I felt just as sick, like the side effects were worse than the disease; within a week most side effects were gone.  It became a habit, something I just didn't think about.  I just knew I had to take my medication and couldn't drink too much.  Mainly limited my drinking to 1-2 drinks.  That definitely slowed my social life.  I wasn't 100% but I was close enough where I just didn't think I was sick anymore.

After 1 month on Nexium I tried to stop it.  I felt fine the first day, so I went on my usual super drinking and eating.  The following day I was so sick I ran to get another refill.  As the end of my 3rd month approached, I realized I had to some how find a cure for whatever was wrong with me.  At least that's how I was thinking: I just need to cure myself naturally.  No more drugs.  No more risk of 101 side effects.

GERD Doctors - The Gastroenterologist

After ending up in the hospital twice during the same week of New Years Eve (quite the beginning for the year), I went to 2 gastroenterologists.

A gastroenterologist is a physician who specializes in disorders and conditions of the gastrointestinal tract. Most gastroenterologists are board-certified in this subspecialty. After completing the same training as all other physicians, they first complete at least two years of additional training in order to attain board certification in internal medicine, then gastroenterologists study for an additional 2-3 years to train specifically in conditions of the gastrointestinal tract.

The first one of these that I went to said he thought it was an ulcer, so to schedule an appointment.  Due to health insurance issues (surprise surprise), I had to switch to another doctor so I scheduled another appointment.  This time I was prepared, though swearing this had to be an ulcer, and had a list of questions:

1. What's the most likely cause of my symptoms?
2. Are there other possible causes for my symptoms?
3. What kinds of tests do I need, and how do I need to prepare for them?
4. Is my condition likely temporary or chronic?
5. What treatment do you recommend?
6. How quickly will I start to feel better?
7. What if my symptoms don't improve?
8. What are the alternatives to the primary approach that you're suggesting?
9. Are there any dietary restrictions that I need to follow?
10. Is there a generic or over-the-counter alternative to the medicine you're prescribing me?
11. Are there any brochures or other printed material that I can take with me? What websites do you recommend?
12. What caused me to develop this ulcer?

I think I got this list from a website.

The second doctor right away said she thought I had IBS ("Irritable Bowel Symdrome") and gave me materials.  I read the materials and they pretty much said this of IBS:

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder that affects your large intestine (colon). Irritable bowel syndrome commonly causes cramping, abdominal pain, bloating gas, diarrhea and constipation. Despite these uncomfortable signs and symptoms, IBS doesn't cause permanent damage to your colon.  

Now, I that point I had a long list of symptoms I carried with me for my doctor's information.  However, I absolutely knew I did not have IBS.  The only time I had ever been constipated was during my first "GERD Episode."  Otherwise, I have always been very regular, have had normal movements, and my symtoms were more like an ulcer if anything.

However, she said I needed to change my diet.  I read but dismissed her diagnosis, though I did make the appointment for the endoscopy, after much haggling with my insurance.  She also gave me a 3 month prescription for Nexium.  I read about PPIs, about how they have a million side effects.

During that time, I was eating every two hours and more like a bird.  I resented this change in eating.  I complained to everyone I could.  I did not want to fill the prescription because I hated drugs.

Finally, I went in for the endoscopy and all they found was inflammation around my lower esophageal sphincter. The doctor told me that was it, no ulcer, so I started to take the Nexium.

What is GERD?

So, out of nowhere I have had to ask myself the above question.

This is the answer, according to the Mayo Clicnic's website:

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a chronic digestive disease that occurs when stomach acid or, occasionally, bile flows back (refluxes) into your food pipe (esophagus). The backwash of acid irritates the lining of your esophagus and causes GERD signs and symptoms.

See also Wikipedia, the National Library of Medicine, and many more out there.

They then list GERD symptoms as follows:

Acid Reflux
Heartburn

When these symptoms occur more than once a week, this is GERD.

Additional symptoms include:

• A burning sensation in your chest (heartburn), sometimes spreading to the throat, along with a sour taste in your mouth
• Chest pain
• Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)
• Dry cough
• Hoarseness or sore throat
• Regurgitation of food or sour liquid (acid reflux)
• Sensation of a lump in the throat

However, I assure you, I have suffered much more than just Acid Reflux and Heartburn.  Worse yet, it's a day to day struggle.  I very much feel I have lost my life to GERD.  Every day, my first thought is how bad will my GERD be today, and at the end of the day "how bad will my GERD be tomorrow?"

I'm writing this blog to document my experience with GERD.   I hope this helps someone.  Good luck!